Stim Garden
A garden theme felt like an effective choice for an immersive experience; the benefits of gardening on mental health have long been supported by research, but one 2022 study in particular made this theme especially promising. This research, conducted by Yang et al., investigated the efficacy of therapeutic gardening for participants in relation to COVID-19-related anxiety and depression. Evidence suggested that therapeutic gardening was not only responsible for an increase in quality of life for participants with mental health disorders but also for those without any mental health disorders (Yang et al., 2022). Similar to stimming, this seems to be an activity that is helpful to virtually everyone, especially when it comes to the management of overwhelming emotions.
AR Stimming Garden
While the AR scene is intended to be immersive, only a few elements are interactive in order to avoid overstimulating the users. As a visual indicator of which objects are interactive, these elements are rendered in a more 3-dimensional style, whereas the non-interactive elements that function as scenery are illustrated as simple geometric shapes with flat colors. Given the size of the AR scene, there is an opportunity for a variety of stimming modalities. As the user walks through the scene, their proximity to specific points triggers flowers to bloom as a chime sound plays. The kaleidoscope animation plays continuously from another two flowers, offering a passive visual stimming experience. Clicking on two of the flowers causes their stems and leaves to bounce while a bouncing sound effect plays. All the while, calming music plays quietly in the background as the user walks through a landscape full of trees, hedges, and flowers.
Spinning Gear Flowerpot Toy
3D model of flowerpot toy
Exploded view of flowerpot toy model
3D models of flowers for flowerpot toy
For the first toy in the series, I wanted to make a moving gear toy, as this provides both visual and tactile stimulation, as well as auditory stimulation, depending on the material used. The gears, positioned in a flowerpot, are driven by a wheel hidden on the bottom of the flowerpot that is attached to the top gears via a drive shaft. While the gears already suggest the form of flowers, I decided to model more straightforward flowers to sit atop the gears that would be cast with silicone to add variation in tactile stimulation in the toy. The flowers were 3D printed and used to make silicone molds, which were used for casting the silicone flowers.
Modular Flower Toys
3D models of modular flowerpots
Wonderbot’s original joint (L) and my modified version (R)
I felt that this stim kit was a good opportunity to explore modularity; the flowerpot used in the physical toys in the Stim Garden kit allows for a wide variety of designs using just a few elements. TI to build on this by creating a version of the flowerpot with pegs the fidget toys could snap on and off of easily. Using modified versions of Thingiverse user Wonderbot Studio’s Popcorn Joint design (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), I designed two different flower pots with mounts that any fidget toy featuring the popcorn joint could snap into.